The fuselage of commercial aircraft includes fuselage portions or sections that are individually assembled and then coupled or attached together to form the fuselage. The assembly of the fuselage portions includes various work tasks along the exterior surface of the fuselage portions, such as drilling, counter-sinking, and installing rivets. Due to the relatively large height and curvature of the fuselage portions, some exterior areas of the fuselage portions may be difficult to access for a mechanic. Therefore, mechanics often climb ladders to access the difficult areas of the fuselage portions during the manufacturing of the aircraft.
However, conventional ladders used for aircraft assembly have several drawbacks. For example, in order to access a working zone which may include a line of holes to be drilled and filled with fasteners, such as rivets, a mechanic typically positions the ladder adjacent to the working zone and leans over a side of the ladder to reach the working zone. The mechanic does not place the ladder in-line with the working zone because the rungs of the ladder interfere with the mechanic's access to the working zone, such as by obstructing the positioning and use of the mechanic's tools. There are several drawbacks associated with the mechanic adopting such awkward body posture of leaning over the side of the ladder, including a risk of injury to the mechanic's wrist, shoulder, and back, and a risk of reduced work quality, such as drilling crooked holes or damaging the exterior surface of the fuselage, both of which are later rectified (thereby prolonging the manufacturing process). Another disadvantage associated with the conventional ladders used for aircraft assembly is the weight of the ladders, which may exceed 65 pounds. Due to the large sizes of the fuselage portions, a mechanic may be tasked with carrying a ladder for hundreds of feet at a time, such as to move from one side of the fuselage portion to the other side, which can lead to injury. In addition, setting up the heavy ladders may require the effort of more than one person, which draws people from other work tasks, thereby reducing workplace efficiency.
Accordingly, known ladders used during the assembly of aircraft are heavy and obstruct access to the area of the aircraft directly behind the ladder, which may cause a mechanic to adopt an awkward body posture in which the mechanic reaches outward over a side of the ladder to work on an area adjacent to the ladder.